Archibald Blair

Who is Archibald Blair?

Archibald Blair was a naval surveyor in the Bombay Marine.

He joined the Bombay Marine, received his first commission in 1771 and in 1792 was promoted captain. In 1772, as a midshipman, he went on his first survey mission along the coasts of India, Iran and Arabia. In 1780 he was lieutenant on a ship captured by a French man-of-war off the Cape of Good Hope. He was kept prisoner by the French until 1784 when they handed him over to the Dutch who returned him to the Bombay Marine that same year. He was given the then considerable sum of £200 on account of his long captivity and suffering. Between 1786 and 1788 he took part in a number of survey missions, to the Chagos archipelago, to Diamond Harbour south of Calcutta and to adjacent parts of the Hooghly river.

His first surveying voyage to the Andaman Islands took place between December 1788 and April 1789, as a result of which the Governor-general decided to colonise the islands in order to provide a safe harbour in the war against pirates. Blair had surveyed the islands in Viper and Elizabeth, discovering the fine natural harbour on South Andaman Island which he initially named Port Cornwallis, and establishing a fort on Chatham Island in the bay. He later returned to successfully establish a permanent colony, partly composed of convicts. In 1792 he was ordered to relocate the settlement to North Andaman Island and hand over command to Major Kyd.